Agricultural Development

Worldwide, government spending on subsidies in agriculture, fishing, and fossil fuels amounts to a staggering $1.25 trillion annually. Subsidies play a significant role in every country’s fiscal policies, regardless of income level or spending patterns. Spending on energy and agricultural subsidies consistently accounts for 2%-3% of GDP on average across income levels and make the production and transportation of food cheaper.

The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels since the brief ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war ended March 18. Famine thresholds have been surpassed in many parts of the territory, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis. Increasing numbers of hunger-related deaths among children under 5 are being reported, and nearly the entire population of 2.2 million people now faces high levels of acute food insecurity.

Agrifood value chains (AVCs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been expanding due to a range of factors, including income growth, urbanization, more market-oriented policies, globalization, and technological changes. Integrating smallholder farmers into those growing value chains, particularly for higher-value commodities, is an important path towards reducing poverty and generating employment opportunities, particularly for women and rural youth.

The “Liberation Day” tariffs proposed by the United States on April 2 included a blanket 10% increase for countries with which the U.S. runs bilateral trade surpluses or small deficits, and a range of higher tariffs for 56 economies with which the U.S. runs sizeable trade deficits (excluding Canada and Mexico as partners in the U.S-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement; and Cuba, Russia and North Korea).

The realities of a changing climate are becoming increasingly clear, with temperatures rising around the world and extreme weather events, like flooding and droughts, becoming more and more frequent. April 2025 was the second hottest April globally on record, and evidence suggests such anomalous high temperatures could become the norm rather than the exception.